THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

**The House is expected to recess from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in order to accommodate the GOP Conference Meeting.

**MEMBERS ARE ADVISED THAT CLOSE VOTES ARE POSSIBLE TODAY, INCLUDING POTENTIAL VOTES ON AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 2609 – ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2014, RELATING TO PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS (PLA) AND DAVIS-BACON. ANY EXPECTED ABSENCES SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE WHIP’S OFFICE AT x5-3130.

**Members are also advised that the GOP Leadership has announced that votes will occur after 7:00 p.m. when the House is considering Appropriations bills, therefore the House may be voting late into the evening today.

Complete Consideration of H.R. 2609 – Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (Rep. Frelinghuysen – Appropriations). H.R. 2609 appropriates $30.4 billion in FY 2014 for the Energy Department and federal water projects, which is $4.1 billion below the President’s request and $6.3 billion (17%) below the enacted level for FY 2013. Republicans are developing this year's spending bills based on the $967 billion discretionary spending cap included in the Republican (Ryan) Budget Resolution rather than the $1.058 trillion cap agreed upon in the Budget Control Act. As a result, this bill leaves even less room for other agencies and programs in appropriations bills to be considered later this year, as Republicans try and ‘frontload’ some of the appropriations bills while still promising $91 billion in appropriations cuts.

The measure increases funding for the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, but cuts funding for fossil fuels and alternative energy programs and nuclear energy research and development. Funding would also be reduced for a wide range of activities, including Army Corps of Engineers projects, Energy Department science programs, advanced energy research, defense and non-defense environmental cleanup activities, nuclear non-proliferation programs, and most renewable energy programs.

As of last night, the House had completed reading through all titles in the bill. The House will begin debating amendments at the end of the bill today.

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, July 11: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to consider H.R. 761 – National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 (Rep. Amodei – Natural Resources) (Subject to a Rule). It is also possible that the House may consider legislation related to the Farm Bill.

The Daily Quote

“Today the 234 House Republicans will meet behind closed doors in a therapy session that could decide the fate of immigration reform. This will be raucous and maybe enlightening. The GOP is splintered and confused on immigration, and this has left the party with no coherent or winning message. Too often Americans hear the shrillest anti-immigration Republicans whose only argument is ‘secure the border,’ as if that is a sensible policy for the 21st century. House Speaker John Boehner's job is to make sure those voices don't carry the day. He and his colleagues face a fundamental choice: kill immigration reform, or try to pass constructive and pro-growth measures that have broad public and business support, including from millions of conservatives. The first option would be a policy blunder and perhaps a political disaster. The Republican-led House has tried to sell itself as a party of solutions. To fail to fix any part of an immigration system that everyone agrees is contrary to U.S. economic interests, and after the Senate has passed a bipartisan reform, would play into Democratic charges that House Republicans are mere obstructionists. Nearly as unproductive would be merely to pass another border-security bill as the GOP did in 2006. That would allow the legal immigration system to grow more unworkable by the day. Surely there is a Republican agenda beyond militarizing the border and turning ICE into the Republican version of OSHA and EPA that criminalizes employers who create jobs… The dumbest strategy is to follow the Steve King anti-immigration caucus and simply let the Senate bill die while further militarizing the border. This may please the loudest voices on talk radio, but it ignores the millions of evangelical Christians, Catholic conservatives, business owners and free-marketers who support reform. The GOP can support a true conservative opportunity society or become a party of closed minds and borders.”